"Does it make any difference?" asked the detective. He was feeling irritated at his failure to find clues.

"Not particularly, Dad. I was just wondering about this toy lantern."

Mr. Nichols turned around and looked quickly at the object in her hand.

"Where did you get that?" he asked sharply.

"Why, it was right here on the davenport, Dad."

Mr. Nichols took the toy from her hand. Penny was surprised by the intent expression of his face as he examined the lantern.

"Come along, Penny," he said quietly, dropping it into his coat pocket.

"We'll talk with Mr. and Mrs. Kirmenbach again. It's just possible that we've found a vital clue!"

CHAPTER IX

Herman Crocker's Visit

"You really believe this toy lantern has a connection with the jewel theft?" Penny asked in amazement. "And you say my theories are wild!"

"Wait until we have talked with the Kirmenbachs," replied Mr. Nichols tersely. "I may be on the wrong track but I think not."

Penny and her father found Mr. and Mrs. Kirmenbach awaiting them in the living room. The elderly couple had never seen the toy lantern before and scarcely could believe that the detective had picked it up in the study.

"It may have been dropped there by some child," Mr. Nichols remarked.

"But no child has been in the house in weeks," Mrs. Kirmenbach said quickly. "I can't understand it at all."

"May I speak with your servants now?" requested the detective when the toy lantern had been fully discussed.

"Certainly," replied Mrs. Kirmenbach. "I will call them in."

In turn Mr. Nichols questioned the chauffeur, the cook, and the maid.

When he displayed the toy lantern, Ellen's face lighted.

"Why, I saw that toy this morning when I first went into the study,"

she said. "It was lying on the floor. I picked it up so that no one would stumble over it and fall."

"You dropped it on the davenport?"

"Yes, sir."

"I'd like to have you show me exactly where you found the lantern."

"Certainly, sir."

The maid led Mr. Nichols back to the study and indicated a place not far from the wall safe.

"Mr. Nichols, you don't think that the toy was left by the jewel thieves?" Mr. Kirmenbach asked in amazement.

"Do you know of any other way the lantern happened to be in this room?"

"No."

"Then we will go upon the a.s.sumption that the toy lantern is a clue left by the thief--a very interesting clue."

"It seems unbelievable!" exclaimed Mr. Kirmenbach. "What would a jewel thief--a grown man be doing with a toy lantern?"

"It does appear a bit unusual," Mr. Nichols admitted, "but I feel certain there is a logical explanation."

"I have great faith in your ability, Mr. Nichols," said Mr. Kirmenbach.

"However, I must say that I am unable to see where this clue will lead."

"At the moment I have no idea myself," replied the detective, smiling.

"But I think that this may develop into something."

He declined to amplify his statement further, and a few minutes later left the house with Penny. They drove slowly back toward k.n.o.b Hill.

"Dad, I'm inclined to agree with Mr. Kirmenbach," Penny remarked. "I don't see what good that toy lantern will do you."

"First I'll have it examined for finger prints," the detective explained. "However, so many persons have handled it that I don't look for anything on that score. Next I'll get in touch with Inspector Harris and have him check on the manufacturers of toy lanterns. I'll try to find out who bought it."

"But there must be hundreds of toys just like this," Penny protested.

"It doesn't have a single distinguishing feature."

"You're wrong there, Penny. Did you notice the wick?"

"Why, it was just an old piece of cloth."

"Exactly. When the old wick tore away, some ingenious child fashioned another from a piece of clothing."

"And you hope that it will be possible to trace the cloth?" Penny asked in amazement.

"That is what I shall try to do."

"You surely don't think that a child committed the robbery, Dad?"

"Hardly, Penny. But the thief may have a child of his own or a small brother. There is a slight chance that the lantern was left deliberately, but I rather doubt such a possibility."

Turning in at their own cottage, Penny and her father noticed a strange car standing by the picket fence.

"It looks as if we have a visitor," the detective observed.

Penny saw a man in a light overcoat standing by the porch talking with the housekeeper. As she and her father came up the walk, he turned to stare at them.

"This is Mr. Erwin Madden from Chicago," the housekeeper said. "He wishes to see you, Mr. Nichols."